Speechless Sundays - The Real Green Gator River

Yikes!!!

I assume gators are protected in Florida.  Maybe they should be "managed" instead.

I have come across them there on what I thought to be pretty dry land.  They are not just in ponds.

There for a minute I thought you were having a late St. Patrick's Day celebration.

John - There you go again promoting typical stereotypes of Florida to us Canadian snowbirds and tourists.  Are you going to be promoting swampland on your next post? :)

I am glad you explained that the water was not typical for Florida, as I was reading the post I was wondering how many areas looked like that. 

Smart birds, I'd say John! The first photo looks almost monochromatic with the green hue of the water.

John, great photo, and thanks for the explanation!  Absolutely love the sign!

John,

Looks like slim pickings for the Ibis that are just standing around. It is green. :)

Steve

I love your gators and your birds.  Great photos!!

John, I think the most dangerous things I have to worry about here are a few coyotes and the occasional cottonmouth.  Those I can deal with...my cousin had a 4 foot gator living in the pond in his back yard in Florida that's a little more scary. 

LOL. Looks familiar... like my whole life!  he he. Would you believe we used to go swimming in a sulfur spring that was covered with that green stuff all the time? Thankfully the gators didn't like the sulfur. But they were certainly in the river when we ski'd!  Psh. Gators shmators! LOL!

Thanks for the smile...I loved the photos, especially the one warning off the tourists!  lol

Cheron

     Great photos John. I grew up on a big lake outside of Gainesville and east of 301 and Waldo. When I lived there (mostly late '40's to early '60's),  we lived in one of only 4 homes built on the lake. Our frame house was built out over the water on pilings and the wrap around deck was our back porch along with a dock.We had steps to go down into the water to swim. But first, Momma would go down the steps with her gun to see if there weer any snakes on the pilings. If so, she shot them.  And then, we would kick and splash to scare the gators away. This was the early '50's and they tended to shy away  And like all of Florida, the gators now know that noise means FOOD... maybe!, since there was so much else for them to do. They KNEW People = TROUBLE!. Times have changed. Now Lake Alto has a lot more residences as well as a park and canal.  We had french windows all around and never had or needed curtains in the early years, but that has changed too! We fished and boated, swam and skiied without concern and many times without adults.